With summer out in full force, we’re guessing so is your electric bill. Your air-conditioning needs to do a lot more work to cool down all that hot air, after all. And, no, turning off the AC is not an option, since no one wants to feel like they’re spending the summer roasting in a giant oven.
Like most people, you’ve probably sought out ways to cut down your electric bill without actually turning off the AC and drowning in sweat every minute of every day. Some solutions out there work. Others don’t. Based on what we’ve seen, we’re hopeful that the Mistbox belongs in the former category.
Designed to mount on the exterior panel of your AC unit, the device cools down the air that enters your AC, allowing it to spit out cool air while actually doing a whole lot less work. According to its creators, this simple solution helps it lower your electric bills by up to 38 percent, all without having to change the frequency in which you use the AC around the house.
The Mistbox consists of three different devices: a mini-wind turbine, a mistbar, and a control unit. The wind turbine attaches wherever your AC’s condenser fan sits, as it uses the air from that to generate power for the system’s battery unit, while the mistbar clips on to the sides of your AC unit, where it sprays a mist of water to cool down the surrounding air. Each set, by the way, comes with four mistbars, which you can spread around to ensure the surrounding vicinity gets its air cooled from every single angle.
Both the wind turbine and the mistbar array are hooked up to the control unit, which serves as the system’s operating hub. Equipped with sensors, it will recognize every time the AC is running, prompting it to automatically turn on the misting system. All the water that flows to the mistbars, by the way, go through the control unit first (it’s hooked up to your water supply), where they pass through a water treatment filter to ensure the mist the system creates will not damage the AC unit. It also contains the battery that powers the system and which the wind turbine supplies with its generated juice.
Both the water filter and the battery are easily removable, by the way, so you can simply swap in a new one every time there’s a problem with either one. And don’t worry about the misting affecting the control unit, as its housed inside a fully-waterproof enclosure. Like many modern devices, comes with a companion mobile app, which will log every single time you use the AC, allowing you to have a detailed record of your AC usage over time.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the Mistbox. You can reserve a full unit for pledges starting at $399. Alternatively, they also offer a subscription model where you can rent the device and have them handle all the maintenance for just $10 a month.